"I asked my dad once, 'How did you and Mum stay married for 33 years?' And he said, 'Well, we never wanted to get divorced at the same time,'" the "Iron Man 3" star continued. "And I think that’s what happens. When two people throw in the towel at the same time, then you break up, but if one person’s saying: 'Come on, we can do this,' you carry on."

The newly christened "World's Most Beautiful Woman" added that her nine-year marriage to Martin has been her number one learning experience.

"I’ve learned more about myself by being married than anything else," she said. "I hate to say, 'We’ve got it worked out,' because you never know what’s going to happen, but we laugh, we’re good friends, we like to do the same stuff."

She also shared two of her secrets to making her relationship work -- giving him space and not nagging.

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The genius, Chris Martin, at work. (Getty Images)

"I’m a very grounded, homey person and Chris is a very mad scientist, genius songwriter," she noted. "So I never say, 'Where are you? You should be home by now.' I never place demands on him because I think he’s a really talented man and he’s putting something good into the world."

Despite the smiley image of her that people see on magazine covers, Paltrow said she has quietly endured many difficult times in her life -- though she keeps them to herself.

"I’ve had a great deal of suffering in my life. I’ve lost people -- my first cousin, my best friend in a car accident," said Paltrow, who recently revealed she had a miscarriage which put her own life in jeopardy. "I’ve had a lot of things happen to me that I don’t talk about in the press. I’ve had a lot of really heartbreaking, difficult things. But all of those things have strengthened my resolve to make the best of my life."